If a picture is worth a thousand words, a good melody is worth a million.

I was not originally intending to write a second part, but, after continued thinking and blog reading, I have more to write. This grew out of a comment I was going to make on a post, Why Lent?, on Phoenix Berries.

[To the right, a very happy "cat of sea bream" on his our new monitor courtesy of Phoenix Berries and family. ("Cat of sea bream" post here)]

By the way, I'm not arguing that there is no point to Lent, and I'm not arguing
against observing it. I've observed it, to a greater or lesser extent
(lesser having to do with health or new babies), for twenty-six years.
I just want to understand it more, this year, to keep it from becoming
just a habit.

[Also by the way, if I ever show up at your blog and question why you said something, I'm not trying to be aggressive or nasty. I'm trying to better understand what you're saying. If I argue with you (which is not what I'm doing here),
the same thing applies. I'm not arguing to be nasty or score points,
I'm trying to understand the ideas. I don't argue with people that
often (or as often as I could (grin)) so, if I step out of my normal behavior enough to argue with you, it's actually quite a compliment. Of course, I compliment dear husband that way far more than anyone else (grin)!]

Quickly checking in. I had a follow up Lenten blog post in my head today, along with another post. I did the taxes instead - at least the part I can do (plus an afternoon of running around). Dear husband has been working on the part of the taxes that has to do with his business.

Speaking of which, I once mentioned a piece he was painting that I particularly liked (although I like all of them). Here it is.

We've got to finish the taxes and older son's FAFSA (financial aid form) tomorrow, and then, if the snow (or, more accurately, the lack thereof) allows, we'll head up to the mountains to visit the University of NC at Asheville. It's daughter's first choice school, and she wants to visit it in the winter to see what it will be like for a large part of the school year. Between illnesses and dear husband's travel, it's difficult to fit a visit in.

We've been heading out of winter weather, for the most part, although we may even get snow here on Sunday. The daffodils have started, the crocuses are blooming, and here are some reticulated irises.

I mean, look at that Vatican list!
Men get the fun sins: lust, gluttony, sloth. Doesn’t that sound like
the vacation of your dreams? Women get the unpleasant sins: pride,
envy, anger. Who wants those sins? They’re not nearly as fun a set to
commit as lust, gluttony, and sloth.

It’s easy to say that lists like these are culturally shaped - and
they probably are...

What’s harder to see is why men and women wind up with these particular
different sets of sins. Do men lust more because their greater
testosterone level leaves them with more sexual desire? Maybe. But
isn’t testosterone also supposed to increase aggression? And men are
reporting less anger. Perhaps women confess more anger
because women conditioned to be more ashamed of their anger than men
are. But, if so, why aren’t women confessing more lust? Are women
really shamed less for lust than men are?

On the other hand, men’s confession of sloth could well make sense of women’s confession of anger.

...I have been hearing for years and years about how the financial servicessector pays such exorbitant wages because the people who work there areso immensely talented that they are cheap at $50 million a year. Inever particularly bought that line before. But I never imagined thatall those Masters of the Universe would do quite thisbadly. If we had paid them $50 million a year to go far, far away andleave our financial system alone, it would have been a bargain... [Hat Tip to The Daily Dish]

I've been "keeping" Lent, in some form, for over twenty years. It wasn't something I remembered being mentioned when I was growing up in the Lutheran church, but I wasn't always paying attention so maybe I missed it. I started observing Lent in 1983, a year before I joined the Catholic Church.

The biggest part of Lent, at least in discussions, is the "giving up" part. Yes, there's Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, but the fasting from ... something is the most mentioned daily reminder. Prayer and almsgiving are supposed to be the two other sides, but, let's be honest, they're not as noticeable as "I'm not eating chocolate. I'm still not eating chocolate. I'm not eating chocolate for four more weeks!"

How and what to give up for Lent was a topic on a number of Catholic blogs this past week. Is it better to give up something good or a bad habit? What makes a bad habit? That writer concluded that chocolate was not a bad habit since it was created by God to gladden the heart. Is it better to give up something instead of adding something positive?

One Catholic blogger said that we give up something to show God how much we love Him. This week, that struck me as something rather odd. If dear husband were to tell me that he's giving up olives to show how much he loved me, I'd just sit around scratching my head. What does that have to do with loving me? If he said that he was giving up something that bothered or annoyed me, I could see that (and no, dear husband, there's nothing you need to do in that area). If he said he was going to show he loved me by doing something positive, like, say, keep flowers in the vases all winter to help cheer me, that would make sense, be very appreciated, and make me feel very loved (above - the flowers he brought home yesterday evening. He is keeping me in flowers all winter). But olives? What would be the point?

Strangely, I haven't been in a blogging mood for a few days. I've gotten lots of other things done, though (grin). Here are some recent finds.

Younger son and I have been studying the Middle Ages. He's particularly interested in castles and their defenses so we spent some time today looking up information on the Krak des Chevaliers, a fortress dating from 1031 which was expanded by the Crusaders from 1150 to 1250. It's built in a concentric form, and the outer wall on the most vulnerable side is 80 feet thick. More on it from How Stuff Works and a YouTube video.

In high school and college, I always had another flute performance coming up. I practiced for hours every day.*

After I graduated, I kept practicing. I'd pick a piece, work it up to performance level, and...

Put it away again.

I didn't have any musical outlet at the time. The extroverted musicians among you are now saying that I needed to get out and find or make opportunities. I was far shyer then than I am now, and that would have been way beyond me.

I went on like that for a few years, but, eventually, my practicing slowed down. I know I should play just for the love of it, and I still do, but to keep up the discipline of long, regular practice sessions, I need a purpose. I hate the way that that sounds so goal-oriented, but a performer (even a shy one) needs to perform. It doesn't have to be a fancy purpose - give me a simple choir accompaniment to work up, and I'll happily add Mozart or Prokofiev for my own enjoyment.

[LOLCat in place of the post which I wrote this morning just to get it out of my system but can't publish because it's far too strong. Maybe I can calm down later and write the meme I was intending to write.]

Every church has an accepted way of behaving. This isn't to say anything negative about churches; every social group has an accepted way of behaving. That's what helps to keep the social group together.

The accepted way may differ from church to church - in the Midwestern, Lutheran church, polite reserve may be the way to go, in the charismatic, Southern church, certain types of emotion may be emphasized. In theory, I suppose, everyone should be able to find a church that "fits" them.

However, this only mentions the interaction with other church members. There's also the believer's interaction, in church, with God, and that can change many things. If you open yourself up to God, in worship, will you be able to stay in the boundaries of what's accepted?

In general, I'm a fairly reserved person. In public, I try to listen, understand, and be friendly (politely, not cloyingly). People who don't know me well often think I'm very calm. Then they get to know me better (or read my blog (grin)), and they find that that's not the case. Still, I generally try not to impose my emotions on others in person. Online... well, you do choose to read my blog (grin).